The contentious 2016 presidential election raised religious and racial tensions, but experts say the fears fueling hate and bias incidents began years earlier.
Author Archives: Mukhtar Ibrahim
Mukhtar Ibrahim is the founding publisher and CEO of Sahan Journal, a nonprofit online news organization dedicated to covering Minnesota immigrants and communities of color.
He previously worked as a staff writer for the Star Tribune and Minnesota Public Radio News. He has also written for the St. Paul Pioneer Press, Al Jazeera English, BuzzFeed News and Wisconsin Watch, where he was an investigative reporting fellow in 2017
Ibrahim is among the first trained journalists of Somali background in Minnesota and in the country. He earned an undergraduate degree from the University of Minnesota and a graduate degree in investigative and data journalism from Columbia University.
He is the recipient of the prestigious leadership fellowship from the St. Paul-based Bush Foundation (2016), a “Great Immigrant” award from the Carnegie Corporation of New York (2019), Islamic Resource Group’s “Building Bridges Award in Media” (2019), Twin Cities Business Magazine’s 100 People to Know (2020), recognized as the Institute for Nonprofit News ‘Emerging Leader’ (2021). He is also the recipient of Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism’s First Decade Award, given to an alum in recognition of contributions to the journalism profession during the first 10 years after graduation from the school.
Born in Somalia, Ibrahim spent his childhood in Ethiopia and Kenya and has lived his adult life in Minnesota. He lives in St. Paul with his wife and three daughters.
Posted inDocumenting Hate, Justice & Safety
A look at Wisconsin’s ‘hate’ groups
The Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks “hate” groups nationwide, has identified nine such groups operating in Wisconsin. It defines these groups as having “beliefs or practices that attack or malign an entire class of people, typically for their immutable characteristics.”
Posted inDocumenting Hate, Justice & Safety
Memorial near Wisconsin synagogue defaced with swastikas, pro-Trump graffiti
A memorial near the Gates of Heaven synagogue in Madison was spray-painted with swastikas and pro-Trump messages in large red letters hours before Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year.